Στην παρούσα εργασία μελετήθηκαν βιβλιογραφικά οι ενεργειακές και αισθητικές παράμετροι που συμβάλλουν στην εξοικονόμηση ενέργειας στον κτιριακό τομέα. Παράλληλα έγινε πειραματική μελέτη μιας καινοτόμου προτεινόμενης διάταξης με φακούς Fresnel για τον έλεγχο του φωτισμού και της θερμοκρασίας των εσωτερικών χώρων των κτιρίων, καθώς και τριών πειραματικών διατάξεων θερμικών ηλιακών συλλεκτών με σκοπό την εκτίμηση της απόδοσης των συλλεκτών με πολύχρωμη απορροφητική επιφάνεια σε σχέση με αυτή των μαύρων συλλέκτων και σε σχέση με το πλεονέκτημα της αισθητικής ενσωμάτωσής τους στα κτίρια. / The abstract is not available.

Neste trabalho propomos o estudo da Espectrometria de Lente Térmica, sua teoria e aplicações, visto ser uma técnica de alta sensibilidade e que permite a medida das propriedades termo-ópticas dos materiais, como a difusividade térmica (D), a condutividade térmica (k), desvio do caminho óptico pela temperatura (ds/dT) - para materiais sólidos - ou a variação do índice de refração em relação à temperatura (dn/dT) - para líquidos e gases. Para isso inicialmente fizemos um estudo da teoria da difração. Valendo-se da Integral de Difração de Fresnel Kirchhoff obtivemos a expressão analítica da intensidade de um feixe de laser, difratado por diversos elementos ópticos (aberturas e obstáculos circular e retangular, por exemplo), tanto para o regime da difração de Fresnel, quanto da difração de Fraunhofer. Ainda no estudo da difração propusemos um arranjo experimental muito simples, utilizando-se um laser pointer sem a lente colimadora, permitindo que se obtenha, com grande facilidade, os padrões de difração no campo próximo, o que é difícil nas montagens tradicionais. Na seqüência fizemos uma revisão dos modelos de Lente Térmica tradicionalmente utilizados, modelos parabólico e aberrante. E, na comparação que realizamos entre eles, verificamos que pelos resultados obtidos através de simulações, com o modelo parabólico se apresenta em grande desacordo (>50%) com os obtidos com o modelo aberrante. Desta forma, concluímos que os dados da literatura obtidos na década de 70 e que ainda são utilizados, merecem ser revistos. Por fim, notamos na literatura um crescente interesse em lasers de alta potência, principalmente pelos bombeados por lasers de diodo. Desta forma fizemos um estudo valendo-se do modelo aberrante de Lente Térmica sob o regime de q grande, no qual procuramos verificar o limite de validade dos modelos de L.T. utilizados, observando o surgimento de fenômeno da aberração esférica, juntamente com as estruturas de anéis. / In this work we have proposed the study of Thermal Lens Spectrometry, its theory and applications, because it is a highly sensitive technique that allows the measure of the thermo-optical properties of the materials, as the thermal diffusivity (D), the thermal conductivity (k), the change of optical path length with temperature (ds/dT), for solid materials or the change of refractive index with temperature (dn/dT), for liquids and gases. Initially we studied the diffraction theory. We utilized the Fresnel Kirchhoff Diffraction Integral to obtain the analytic expression of the beam laser intensity, whose was diffracted for several optical elements, so much for the regime of the Fresnel diffraction as the regime of the Fraunhofer diffraction. Continuing in the study of the diffraction we proposed a very simple experimental apparatus where we used a laser pointer without the collimator lens, allowing that it was obtained with great facility the Fresnel diffraction patterns, which are difficult to observe in the common experimental apparatus. In the sequence, we made a revision of the models of Thermal Lens traditionally used, parabolic and aberrant models. And, in the comparison that we accomplished among them, we verified that for the results obtained through simulations, with the parabolic model it comes in great disagreement (>50%) with obtained them with the aberrant model. This way, we concluded that literature’s data obtained in the 70ths and they are still used, they must be reviewed. Finally, we noticed in the literature a growing interest in high power lasers. This way we made a study where we used the aberrant model of Thermal Lens under the regime of great q, in which we look for to verify the limit of validity of the used models, observing the appearance of the spherical aberration together with the rings structure.

A Holografia Digital (HD) é uma ferramenta acessível, rápida e eficiente para análise de efeitos mecânicos em materiais fotoelásticos. Esses materiais apresentam a propriedade da dupla refração, ou birrefringência, quando submetidos a esforços externos e, como consequência, os efeitos dos estados de polarização da luz transmitidos através de sua estrutura podem ser utilizados na análise das distribuições de tensões. As técnicas holográficas tradicionais não possibilitam o armazenamento das fases da onda de luz e, portanto, dificultam a análise quantitativa do campo de tensões e deformações nesses materiais. A Holografia Digital permite contornar essa dificuldade por meio de processos que utilizam diretamente as fases da onda de luz armazenadas. A partir de um interferômetro com duas ondas de referências ortogonalmente polarizadas é possível obter hologramas simultâneos que, ao serem subtraídos durante um processo de reconstrução holográfica digital por método da transformada de Fresnel, fornecem diretamente as diferenças de fases. Dessa forma, a HD mostra ser uma alternativa na análise de problemas em diversas áreas, pois possibilita, através de uma única captura, obter informações sobre as propriedades ópticas e mecânicas dos sistemas de interesse. O objetivo desse trabalho foi, além do desenvolvimento instrumental, criar um método para obtenção das distribuições de tensões que surgem nos materiais fotoelásticos e validá-lo por comparação, tanto com um modelo teórico a partir de fundamentos do método de Elementos Finitos associado à Fotoelasticidade quanto com um método experimental de Fotoelasticidade RGB. Com os procedimentos do método proposto, determinou-se as distribuições de tensões em uma amostra fotoelástica acoplada a uma peça metálica para observar a aplicabilidade do método. Essas etapas levaram a resultados que apontam a possibilidade de se utilizar técnicas e métodos holográficos digitais no estudo das propriedades de materiais fotoelásticos. / The Digital Holographic (DH) is an handy, fast and efficient tool to obtain the stresses distributions in Photoelastic materials. These materials present the double refraction phenomenon also named temporary birefringence when subjected to external forces, therefore, the effects in polarization state of the light transmitted through the structure can be used to analyze the stress distribution. Traditional holographic techniques do not allow the storage phase of the light wave dificulting the analyze these of the distributions. Digital Holographic allows to overcome these difficulties by processes that obtain directly of the storage phase of light. The holographic apparatus applied to generate the holograms registered the interference between two orthogonally polarized reference waves and an object wave transmitted through the samples. The resulting phase maps were reconstructed numerically by the Fresnel transform method. Thereby, the DH is an alternative for the study of problems in several fields, because it allows, through a single capture, to obtain information about the optical and mechanical properties of the systems of interest. The objective of this work was, besides instrumental development, create a method in Digital Holography to obtain the stresses distributions in Photoelastic materials and validate it by comparisions between the theorical Finite Element Method associated with Photoelasticity with the experimental method of Photoelasticity RGB. The procedures of the proposed method were used for determine stresses distributions in a Photoelastic sample with a metal part coupled in your superior base to verified its aplicability. Together, these results demonstrate the possibility of using digital holographic techniques and methods for studying mechanical properties of the Photoelastic materials.

De nombreux travaux de recherche sont actuellement menés afin de rendre les caméras infrarouges plus compactes et moins chères. En infrarouge refroidi, le défi est de proposer un système cryogénique compact pouvant être intégré sur un système à faible capacité d’emport tel qu’un drone. Dans ce cadre, l’utilisation d’une lentille mince en remplacement du filtre froid du cryostat permettrait de limiter la masse supplémentaire à refroidir et de maintenir constant le temps de descente en froid. En infrarouge non refroidi, l’objectif est de concevoir un petit capteur infrarouge bas coût « grand public » que l’on pourra inviter dans nos maisons, nos voitures, voire nos smartphones. L’utilisation d’une lentille mince ouvrirait la voie à des imageurs infrarouges peu onéreux.Dans ce contexte, j’ai choisi d’étudier le comportement d’une lentille de Fresnel dite d’ordre élevé intégrée dans une configuration optique de type landscape lens. J’ai montré que cette architecture optique mince peut fonctionner sur une large bande spectrale et sur un grand champ de vue. Cependant, les lentilles de Fresnel d’ordre élevé étant mal modélisées dans la littérature, j’ai développé mes propres algorithmes de modélisation afin de prévoir les performances d’un tel système. Grâce à cette étude, j’ai ensuite proposé deux systèmes d’imagerie, l’un refroidi et l’autre non refroidi. Chacun des deux systèmes a fait l’objet d’un prototype et a été entièrement caractérisé expérimentalement. Les résultats expérimentaux obtenus m’ont permis de valider les performances anticipées théoriquement et de mettre en évidence un phénomène de chromatisme diffractif latéral. Ces systèmes ouvrent la voie à deux nouvelles générations de caméras infrarouges. J’ai montré que l’imageur infrarouge refroidi possède une qualité image satisfaisante pour des applications d’aide au pilotage. Le prototype non refroidi est lui entièrement compatible avec des applications domotiques. Il a suscité l’intérêt de différents acteurs industriels. / Miniaturizing infrared optical systems is a research area of great interest nowadays in order to make them lighter and cheaper. In the cooled infrared domain, the objective is to design a compact cryogenic camera that could be integrated in a small-capacity carrier like a drone. To that purpose, replacing the cold filter of the dewar by a thin lens would limit the cooled down mass and would stabilize the cool down time. In the uncooled infrared domain, the objective is to design a small general use camera at a low cost. Its use could be generalized in houses, cars or even smartphones. The use of a thin lens would also pave the way for low-cost infrared imagers. In this context, I chose to study the imagery properties of a high order Fresnel lens integrated in a landscape lens architecture. I have demonstrated that this architecture can be used within a wide spectral range and over a wide field of view. However, current optical design software perform poorly on high order Fresnel lenses. Therefore, I have developed my own algorithms to model the performances of such a system. With that study, I have been able to design two prototypes with their own objectives: the first one is cooled and the second one is uncooled. Both systems have been demonstrated and entirely characterized. The experiment results have validated the theoretical performances of the systems and they highlighted an original kind of lateral chromatic aberration.These two systems pave the way to two new generations of infrared cameras. Indeed, on one hand I have proved that the cooled infrared quality may be good enough to qualify for an aircraft piloting aid. On the other hand, the uncooled prototype is fully compatible with low cost surveillance applications and the system raised the interest of various companies.

A reflective Tiered Fresnel Zone Plate, herein called a Tiered Fresnel Mirror TFM, with a focal length on the order of a meter is studied for use as the mirror(s) in a Fabry-Perot interferometer type of laser. The relative phase transition within the individual zones (ideally smooth from zero to pi ) is stair-stepped or tiered in the longitudinal direction of the mirror. Within an individual zone the step height is constrained to a constant whereas the width of the tiers are monotonically decreased when traversing radially outward so that the overall profile follows the ideal smooth curve. The effectiveness of the number of tiers per zone, measured by the loss per pass or round-trip, varies from a Plane Mirror (zero tiers per zone) to a Spherical Mirror (an infinite number of zones per tier). The Fox and Li iterative method of determining the E-Field as the beam propagates back and forth is applied to an empty cavity resonator to determine the diffraction loss. A computer program is written to investigate the diffraction loss of various mirror configurations. The performance of the TFM is found to be not as efficient as the Spherical Mirror (the number of tiers per zone is shown to be a major variable) but may be tolerable under applications of a moderately high gain laser medium. The Gaussian Fundamental mode is easier to maintain since the higher order modes have a higher loss per round trip. The manufacture of the TFM can be incorporated easily into an IC process thereby making the cost of the novel mirror relatively cheap when produced in quantities. A major cost variable is again the number of tiers per zone which is proportional to the number of processing steps. The TFM's performance with respect to the etch depth of the steps in the mirror's stair-stepped profile is simulated and found to be a very doable etch with the current plasma etch technology.

In this study, a liquid crystal Fresnel lens based on the cholesteric blue phase liquid crystals is proposed. Blue phases are liquid-crystalline phases that appear in a very small temperature range between a cholesteric phase and an isotropic phase. There are three types of blue phases; BP¢¹,BP¢º and BP¢». The BP¢¹ and BP¢º are characterized by a spatially periodic director field with lattice constants comparable to the wavelength of visible light. Because of the structural symmetry, blue phases are optically isotropic. In this study, the electro-optical properties of the BP¢º under different applied voltages are investigated. The results reveal that the Bragg reflection of the BPII has a red shift by increasing the applied voltage and a phase transition from BPII to cholesteric phase occurs at the high voltage regime (>100V). Based on the results, an electrically controlled blue phase Fresnel lens with polarization independence and high diffraction efficiency is demonstrated.

This study proposes a polarization-independent liquid-crystal Fresnel lens using the twisted nematic liquid crystal (TN-LC). At the high voltage state, the TN-LC behaves as an optically anisotropic material which makes the proposed LC Fresnel lens possess a polarization-insensitive characteristic. Two kinds of LC Fresnel lens, photoresist type and patterned electrodes type, are prepared in our experiment. Experimental results reveal that the photoresist type has a high diffraction efficiency and a good polarization-independent characteristic. However, its diffraction efficiency cannot be switched off. Contrarily, the patterned electrode type has the characteristics of the switch-off and good polarization-independent with a moderate diffraction efficiency

Submitted by Morgana Silva (morgana_linhares@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-09-23T16:07:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação.pdf: 2848624 bytes, checksum: f5075c15190584601d6a5374e1d06fd7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-23T16:07:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação.pdf: 2848624 bytes, checksum: f5075c15190584601d6a5374e1d06fd7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-06-22 / Brazil has as a main source for production of electricity the dams using water to drive the turbines and as a secondary source are used the thermoelectric power plants that use fuel oil for electric power production. Both generate a large environmental impact, due to the fact of the dams need huge areas for its construction, which often leads to destruction of important ecosystems in the region where it will be installed the hydroelectric plant, besides the fact that they need the rainfall cycle so that the dams have the operating capacity, while the thermoelectric power plants burn fossil fuels thus increasing emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere. An alternative to the solution of the problems mentioned above is the use of renewable sources of energy, with emphasis on this work. Solar energy can be divided into two parts: thermal and photovoltaic. This work it is focused on thermal use of solar energy, with a Fresnel-type solar concentrator to heat water, which will trigger a cooling system environment with the use of desiccant rotors. The choice of type Fresnel collector gave the field of development of this hub is still in constant growth and by the fact that even occupy a relatively small area when compared to other solar thermal concentrators, in addition to its construction be simple and low cost when again compared to other solar concentrators. / O Brasil tem como fonte principal para produção de energia elétrica as hidrelétricas que utilizam água para movimentar as turbinas e como fonte complementar são utilizadas as termoelétricas que usam óleo combustível para produção de energia elétrica. Ambas geram um grande impacto ambiental, devido ao fato das hidrelétricas necessitarem de enormes áreas para a construção das represas, o que muitas vezes acarreta na destruição de ecossistemas importantes para a região onde irá ser instalada a hidrelétrica, além do fato que elas necessitam do ciclo das chuvas para que as represas possuam capacidade de operação, enquanto que as termoelétricas queimam combustíveis fosseis, aumentando assim as emissões de CO2 para a atmosfera. Uma alternativa para a solução dos problemas citados anteriormente é a utilização de fontes renováveis de energia, dando ênfase neste trabalho a energia solar. A energia solar pode ser dividida em duas vertentes: térmica e fotovoltaica. Este trabalho está voltado para a utilização térmica da energia solar, através da utilização de um concentrador solar do tipo Fresnel para o aquecimento de água, a qual irá acionar um sistema de refrigeração de ambientes com a utilização de rotores dessecantes. A escolha do coletor do tipo Fresnel se deu pelo campo de desenvolvimento deste concentrador estar ainda em constante crescimento e pelo fato do mesmo ocupar uma área relativamente pequena quando comparado com outros concentradores solares térmicos, além de sua construção ser simples e de baixo custo quando novamente comparada a outros concentradores solares.

In this thesis, a novel System-on-Package (SoP) antenna concept has been developed for 24 GHz automotive radar applications. High-performance applications such as automotive radars require miniaturization, excellent performance and a high level of integration. The multi-layer Low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) SOP approach is an effective solution to meet these stringent needs as it offers not only great capability of integrating embedded functions, but also the real estate efficiency and cost-savings. The antenna concept utilizes a mixed LTCC tape system and combines for the first time a fractal antenna array and an integrated grooved Fresnel lens. The overall gain of the system is 15 dB which includes a 6 dB gain enhancement due to the integration of the lens. The bandwidth is 1.8 GHz which is 7.5% of the center frequency. The three types of dielectric Fresnel lenses (grooved, multi-dielectric and perforated) have been investigated as gain enhancement and beam shaping components for high performance LTCC SoP applications. A high dielectric constant material has been utilized to realize the lenses in the LTCC medium. All three lenses perform well with significant gain enhancement (>6 dB) and beam shaping despite their compact sizes (2.4 cm x 2.4 cm). The excellent performance makes all three lenses highly suitable for high performance SoP applications with the grooved lens being most suitable due to the relative ease of fabrication.

A novel type of parabolic trough collector was characterised using a very basic theoretical model. This model looked at an ideal case and provided a basic expectation that was compared to actual measurements. The model showed that greater improvements can be achieved if heat losses to the environment are limited or omitted. This can be achieved by using a glass shield to insulate the receiver in a vacuum to limit the effect wind has and therefore limit convective losses. The experimental characterisation of the PTC consisted of taking six different temperature measurements to better understand the energy balances taking place. Four different configurations were tested, using two different types of concentrator and in each case a receiver that was either unpainted or painted with a semi matte black paint. The different types of concentrator were either stainless steel sheet metal or discretised glass mirror strips, similar to a linear Fresnel collector. Experimental runs were conducted on cloudless days for an hour and 15 minutes. This allowed for three runs to be performed on a single day. Using the theoretical model and comparing it to the experimental data, an efficiency was calculated. This efficiency averaged 14 % when the receiver was unpainted and 13 % when the receiver was painted for the metal sheets. The glass mirror strips had average efficiencies of 54 % and 45 % for an unpainted and painted receiver respectively. The model is very basic and can be improved upon if more variables are taken into consideration, such as convective heat losses. It was also recommended that wind measurements are taken in future tests. A property looked at to evaluate the effectiveness of each type of configuration was the average energy supplied to the thermal heating fluid over the course of an experimental run. For this the averaged values over all the experimental runs conducted for stainless steel sheet metal were 258 W and 332 W for an unpainted and painted pipe respectively. When using the glass mirrors an average energy value of 1049 W was supplied when the pipe was unpainted and an average of 1181 W was gained in the runs conducted after the pipe had been painted. Painting the receiver had little to no effect. The surface temperature of the receiver after painting the pipe was not higher and a slight increase in the energy gained by water was observed. This was explained by inaccuracies during testing as scattered light may have caused an interference on some of the measurements. There were also human inaccuracies in testing which should be omitted in future tests by implementing, for one, a functional tracking system. Future tests should be designed in such a way to completely omit irradiance affecting the thermocouple taking the measurement. Glass mirrors fared far better than the stainless steel sheet metal counterpart. It was recommended that they are used as the concentrator of choice. Higher efficiencies were achieved and in some cases almost four times the energy was supplied to the water in the pipe. This was attributed to a much lower concentrator temperature, on average 11 °C lower than the temperature of the metal sheets, as well as a much better ability to concentrate sunlight onto a single focal point. However, the glass mirror strips were proven to be very fragile and as such, require protection from the elements. While the strips were lighter and caused less of a load during windy conditions, they were susceptible to oscillations from gusty wind. This led to a number of strips breaking and needed to be replaced. By discretising the strips into individual pieces, they had the benefit of only needing to replace the strips that were damaged. This is also true for all future runs. It is still recommended that a tarp be used to protect the glass mirrors. Using glass mirror strips as a concentrator combined LFC technology with PTC technology and a novel PTC design was achieved. The design still required the installation area of a PTC. The novel design was compared to Industrial Solar’s industrial LFC module, LF-11, as it shares many similarities to LFC technology. The peak thermal output of the rig was significantly lower at 346 W/m2 compared to the industrial value of 562 W/m2. However, the noteworthy differences in design and optimisation between the two modules meant the results achieved were comparable. It is expected that better and more comparable results can be realised once the inherent flaws in the design, such as tracking the sun, aperture size and adding a vacuum absorber, are addressed. It is recommended that more research and emphasis is put into this field as an alternative energy power plant for South Africa. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Chemical Engineering / MEng / Unrestricted